My First Day In Sierra Leone
The plane was finally landing and I felt so relived to get
out of the sweaty seat I had been laying in since that morning. My feet fell
asleep as I stood up and I looked out the window. Long plain’s of dirty roads
and blue sky’s filled my view. I stepped out of the plane to find Foday
standing there with a big smile on his face awaiting for my arrival. We
exchanged hugs and went on our way to explore Kenema. The air was dusty but the
town was peaceful and lush. Once we made it to Foday’s house he showed me to my
room. It was quite small with a long bed that covered one part of the wall and
their where to windows above a wooden shelf sitting in the corner. As I admired
the view from my window I heard my stomach growl. I then realized I hadn’t
eaten since before I boarded my flight.
Foday decided to take me to a small stand in the middle of the town where we ate pepper soup with rice and chile. I gulped down the soup and already felt so much better. It was sweet and spicy with a milky texture that just made my throat warm. Foday then took me to several other stands to look at jewelry and ceramics. I bought a Necklace with several colors on it as well as orange and brown earrings with a matching bracelet.We must have walked in the town for hours because by the time we started walking back to Foday’s house it was dark. On our way home Foday and I talked about his family and how he came to live in Sierra Leone. He had told me that his family died during the war as well as his little brother Kanim. Tears where rushing down my face as he explained his heart ace and pain that caused him to leave his wife and become homeless on the streets. We sat down, looked up at the stars, and he said “I will never forget their laughs and faces, they where my whole world. That’s when I knew I had to start a better life for myself. So I went from begging on the streets to earning money for my drum business and realizing a new passion of my own, music”. His story had already inspired and touched my heart. That night I only thought of my family and how much I missed everyone back home, but I knew I had to finish my journey here and I knew it was going to be great.
4 comments:
This is amazing! It is really cool how you made connections in your blog. I also liked how you really explained in great depth about your amazing journey. For example, in your second paragraph you talked about the heartbreaking story of how Foday's family had passed away, and you imagined tears running down his cheeks. Reading this, I am inspired to contribute help to Foday also. Great blog! Very inspirational.
Hearts, Nicole :)
Great Job! I really believed that this is what you would do if you went their. It was all very realistic which was nice. I liked your description of the soup. I loved how you told his story, both of how his family had passed away, and how he had started a drumming business. I am glad you loaned to him! thanks for sharing this story :)
GOOD JOB GRETCHEN. <3 i love how you described the soup and added pictures of the soup and the necklace. Also, I love how you added details about how you felt on the plane because I could really sense in real life how your experience on the flight was.
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